On the night of April 6, 2012, Hammond got into an argument with his girlfriend and a neighbor called police. Hammond had a small bag of marijuana, and an officer saw him try to toss it to the ground, according to court documents. Hammond was arrested and taken to Central Booking.
Hammond arrived for his court date without a lawyer and asked Gatewood for a postponement. Gatewood asked the prosecutor how much marijuana was in question.
"Your honor, it was one bag," the prosecutor replied.
"A trash bag or ...?" Gatewood asked.
"It was gross weight 5.9 grams."
Gatewood said he wouldn't postpone such a trivial case, according to the transcript. The prosecutor said he was seeking 30 days' jail time, and Gatewood complained about the waste of taxpayer money.
"The state's satisfied with guilty and a fine, your honor," Assistant State's Attorney Michael Brown said.
"There you go, Mr. Hammond. You don't want you to go to jail; I don't either," Gatewood said, moving the case along without Hammond having representation. "I will impose a fine of $100 in court cost."
"I really wasn't under the impression that this fine that I accepted to pay would be a guilty finding," Hammond says now. "I thought the fine would negate any other trouble at all."
Gatewood told Hammond to "be smarter."
Two months later, Hammond received notice of a violation of probation in the case before Stewart-Mays.
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